Council accepting letters for vacancy

The Washington City Council voted to fill a vacancy on the council by appointment at its meeting Wednesday night. The council is accepting letters of interest from residents of Ward 3 who wish to serve on the council. The letters must be submitted to city hall by 5 p.m. Jan. 3.

The councilors had the option of voting to hold a special election but chose to appoint instead. They decided that they will discuss the list of interested people at their Jan. 4 meeting. City Administrator Brent Hinson said he would like the position to be filled by the special session Jan. 11 because that is the night Public Financial Management (PFM) Inc. will present its cash flow analysis of the city?s budget.

Councilor Mike Roth, who currently represents Ward 3, will resign at the end of the year and no one is slated to replace him. No one?s name was on the ballot for Ward 3 for the Nov. 8 municipal election. Tina Thomas received the most write-in votes with 24 but announced in a letter that she would decline the seat. Roth received 18 write-in votes but turned down a chance to serve a third term.

?There are many positives to this particular job, besides the camaraderie,? Stark said. ?There is a financial payment to encourage you to be there, and you get to help run the city.?

The councilors are paid $50 for each council meeting they attend. They are not paid to attend committee meetings.

Washington resident Richard Anderson addressed the council and urged it to pass an ordinance to allow golf carts to travel on city streets. Anderson handed out copies of ordinances from the cities of North Liberty and Kalona, which allow golf carts on their streets.

?There are, of course, restrictions written into it,? he said. ?They cannot go over 25 miles per hour. They have to have a slow-moving vehicle sign and a 5-foot flag on them.?

Hinson said he would like the idea to be referred to the ordinance committee so that he and Washington Police Chief Greg Goodman could collect data on the issue. Councilor Bob Shepherd was curious about whether the carts would have turning signals and other safety features typical of a motor vehicle.

?If they are going 25 mph, that?s still a pretty good clip,? he said. ?When they?re reaching that speed, they?re much more like a regular car than anything else.?

Anderson said after-market signals can be purchased and attached to a golf cart.

The council passed the first reading of an ordinance to make Sitler Drive a one-way street going west and to add no-parking signs on it. Washington resident Richard Gilmore addressed the council about the issue.

?It?s going to be a minor inconvenience for us to go all the way around eight blocks back to our houses when I?m at my shed,? he said. ?The one-way, going east to west, seems like a workable plan. I?m not totally enthused by it. Given what is going on with the school, I?d be in favor of a one-way.?

Hinson said that the no-parking and one-way signs are a good start but that the city needs to take a deeper look at infrastructure on the south side of town.

?We?re going to see a significant increase in traffic in that area,? he said.

Stark said he received a call from a resident who said the condition of E Avenue was ?deplorable.?

?I went down it and I said, ?This maybe one of the worst roads in town,?? Stark said.